Where does ‘Young Sheldon’ take place?

It’s now been five years since the adorkable gang of The Big Bang Theory departed our screens. For 12 seasons, the beloved CBS sitcom gifted us with the hilarious antics and infinitely re-quotable lines of Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist played to much acclaim by Jim Parsons.

While fans can no longer enjoy Cooper’s many “bazinga!” moments on the mothership series, they have been able to understand his origins on Young Sheldon. The spinoff prequel show — which follows a young Sheldon Cooper (played by Iain Armitage) long before he met Leonard, Penny and the rest of the gang — has run for seven seasons, and is set to air its series finale in May, 2024.

Given that Young Sheldon is somewhat of an origin story, it’s useful to take a look at exactly where the show is set, and which location gave rise to one of television’s most annoyingly brilliant sitcom characters. 

Where does Young Sheldon take place?

Young Sheldon makes clear from the very first episode where and when it takes place. The details of the setting come courtesy of a voiceover narration from Parsons, who reveals that the events of Young Sheldon take place in East Texas from the late-1980s to the early-1990s. The seventh and final season of Young Sheldon will take place in 1993 and 1994. 

There’s multiple references to pop cultural artefacts that existed during that time, from Watchmen to Dungeons and Dragons and Star Trek; all of which would remain beloved by Sheldon well into his Big Bang Theory tenor. 

As for the exact location of Young Sheldon, it’s revealed throughout the show that the Cooper family live in the fictional town of Medford. Like The Simpsons’ Springfield, you can’t point to Medford on a map (since it doesn’t exist), but a brief map appearing in the premiere episode shows that the fictional area is close to the very real town of Sabine County, and near the Trinity River.    

For their part, fans have offered a few suggestions as to what Medford reminds them of, naming cities like Lumberton, Silsbee, Katy, Allen, and Arlington. For what it’s worth, there is an actual town named Sheldon located just Northeast of Houston, but our guess is that showrunners thought that location might be a little too on the nose. 

The Sheldon of The Big Bang Theory made countless references to his Texan upbringing throughout the show, and is even seen returning home in three episodes. Parsons himself is from the state, and was born in Houston. At some point, Sheldon moved to Pasadena, California, where the events of The Big Bang Theory take place.